[Weekly Update] 100% Movie Tariff, y'all.

I'm sick again. Head pousing. Nose clogged. Stomach refuses to digest anything.

Bless this flesh mech I'm piloting. Dang thing breaks down every other week.

CHANNEL UPDATE

Summer Horror Poll
Remember to vote for which topic we'll cover in our summer horror video! Check the pinned post and cast your vote.

Next Video - Bad Chinese Movies
The script for our next video, which gives a brief update on the perception of Chinese and American cinema in China, is practically finished. I said practically, because the current US president keeps giving me new things to write about. I thought I'd a a short 300-line script. The script ends up over 500 lines. I'm too good at complaining.

Media Literacy Tutorial
So, this is a bit of an experiment. For the second video of May, I want to create a purely educational video, in almost an academic sense. We'll talk about what is media literacy by understanding the Shannon–Weaver model of communication, and explain it with some films as examples. It'll not be limited by our usual scope of world cinema, so I don't know how it'll be received. But if that sounds interesting to you, congratulations there are now 2 nerds in the room.

MEDIA TALK

If you don't want to read this week's update, I understand. The constant US political discussion online is, indeed, exhausting. So, if you are on a digital detox diet, feel free to come back next week, when I'll try to find something a bit more lighthearted. For those of you who are staying: unfortunately, we didn't look for politics, but politics have come for us.

Presumably because Michael Bay's The Rock was on cable TV, the AI enhanced president of the United States watched it. He then, I presume, fanticized about f*cking the prom queen. And his post-nut clarify made him realize two things:

• Alcatraz is f*cking awesome. Let's reopen it.

• America just doesn't make manly movies like this any more. These s*ssy-ass DEI woke movie has to be stopped. 100% tariff on movies made outside of the US!

And, well, it's as solid of a theory as any.

With this, the trade war began by the US has escalated into a war of culture exchange. With China already set to further limit US film import, the prestige of Hollywood is rapidly eroding. The consequence of which we'll talk about shortly.

But first, let's talk about how unhinge the idea of this tariff tactic is. For one thing, the entire Harry Potter series reportedly made "no money", with Order of the Phoenix reportedly had a 167 Million dollar loss after some creative Hollywood accounting. It depends on how the tariff will be calculated and collected, but I have a feeling Hollywood is going to weasel its way out of this. And if it ends the practice of Hollywood accounting? Good, f*ck em.

The president, of course, has no idea how films are made. Every blockbuster from Hollywood, include the The Rock, is on some level, an international production. The Rock itself has a British composer and an Australian editor. There are only so many artist at the top level of filmmaking, and not all of them are American.

Additionally, if you flip through any films that came out of the past 10 years, you are more than likely to see logos from foreign organizations, including the SODEC film fund of Quebec, and Telefilm from Canada. That's because many VFX houses are based in Canada, especially Vancouver. It's just one more reason to be pissed as a Canadian.

By it goes beyond post-production, too. Major scenes from John Wick 2 were filmed in Montreal (maybe I should make a location video about that), as did multiple X-Men films. Many are aware that Vancouver is often a stand-in location for various American cities, too. That's not to mention, the entire Hallmark catalogue relies on Ottawa for that small, classic, cozy town aesthetic.

But even if we discard all of that: Isn't globetrotting adventure one of the major appeal of Hollywood? To visit various locations? Limiting productions outside of the US will simply make Hollywood less appealing than it already is these days.

But that brings us back to the discussion on a war on cultural exchange. It seems the current US administration holds the mindset that America has everything, and does not need the rest of the world. Indeed, the only way I can interpret this is, the current US president wants Hollywood to make films in America, about America, for America. And judging by his behavior in the past, he equate himself with America, consciously or not.

That doesn't sound too bad, right? After all, didn't I also advocated China to make films about China, instead of chasing after Hollywood? Well, the difference is that, even within China, films are not made exclusively by Chinese people. Cooperations with the Korean and Japanese film industries are frequent. Remakes of each other's work are common. And most importantly, we frequently consume each other's media, and thus, culture.

The 100% tariff applies not only to Hollywood films, but also imported films. If it indeed goes into effect, the already insular American audience will only become even more ignorant of the outside world, as ignorant as the president himself.

As a Chinese person, this behavior was hammered into our head during middle school. Ming and Qing dynasty China also believed they had everything. Ming China forbids civilian trade with the outside world. It was a rich a self-sufficient country, until it was not. When a disaster hit and the supply chain broke, the dynasty fell. Qing China had a huge trading surplus. Britain keeps buying tea from China. And China bought nothing from Britain. Money kept flowing into China, until the British had enough and started selling opium.

Trade stops war. When we rely on each other, we stop fighting each other. Be it material good or cultural export, it is important to let it flow.

Anyway, there's just something deeply sad and hilarious that this whole thang came from a movie that, reportedly, inspired the false Iraqi chemical weapon allegation. In any case, I'll see you in our next update!